Family History
by Radioactive Nerd
Summary: Season 4 episode 11. Verne has to do a project for school and learns about both the Brown and Clayton lineages.


**Author's Note: I wrote down the idea for this story weeks ago. It was almost going to be cut but I realized I could make it work. This is basically an episode story where Jules and Verne explore the history of the Brown and Clayton families (by the way, what I did not know I made up). As such, it is a somewhat boring episode compared to the other ones.**

**Disclaimer: Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale would SUE me if I claimed the rights to their trilogy. So to save myself from financial ruin, I write: I don't own the rights to the Back to the Future Trilogy or even the Back to the Future Animated Series. **

Hill Valley, California

November 7, 1992

2:55 PM

"This year you all will be creating presentations on your family history," Miss Stine said and pointed to her chalkboard covered with pictures. Apparently she had taken pictures of the presentations of last year's fifth graders. "This will be a fun way to not only learn your own back-rounds and roots but also show other kids your history. But let me just warn you beforehand that you will be graded."

"Oh great," Verne muttered to himself. He had been listening to his teacher but wasn't really interested in the project.

Verne knew a lot about history in general (after spending most of his early childhood exploring the time stream). He had seen humans building their earliest of civilizations, he knew the history of America by heart, and he even had knowledge of what the future held.

But Verne knew squat about his own family history. Well, he and Jules did know some little facts about their father's personal life and a little about the early years of Clara's life. Their family history was never told to them and Verne only could remember that his father had once told him he was part German.

Yep, spending his weekend looking up information on the Brown and Clayton families would be a drag.

"If you have any siblings in school then they could get extra credit for helping you," Miss Stine said and Verne perked up a little. Jules was smart and always wanted extra credit to keep his A+ average. Maybe his brother could relieve Verne of some of the work.

"Hey Miss Stine could my brother help me?" Verne asked as he raised his hand.

"Yes Verne but he can't do all the work," Miss Stine said.

Verne slumped back down.

The school bell rang and all the fifth graders cheered (it was Friday after all.) Verne got his backpack and hoodie sweatshirt. He pushed past most of the kids to get out of the school before getting stuck in the school hallways.

Jules was waiting for him on the playground swings. The twelve-year-old may have declared that he was too mature for playgrounds but Jules was often spotted on the swings. He liked the fact that swinging was sort of like being a pendulum and often calculated how high and how fast he could go.

Verne ran up to his brother and plopped himself down on one of the swings. He began pumping his legs to get up to the same speed and rhythem of Jules.

"Hey Jules," Verne said when he matched up with his brother's swinging rhythem. "Can you help me with a school project."

Jules looked at his brother a little suspiciously.

"Depends brother," Jules said slowly. "Will I be just assisting or will I be completing the whole thing for you."

"Assisting," Verne said. "I really need help 'cause learning everything about our family history is going to take _forever_."

"Our family history?" Jules said and stopped swinging. "Hmm, I have not yet gained knowledge of our roots yet."

"And you'll get extra credit," Verne chimed in.

"Well I agree to help you then," Jules said. He glanced toward the road and saw a black 4x4 truck pull up. He grabbed his backpack off the ground and so did Verne. They had a little race toward the truck and nearly smacked into the vehicle.

Jules opened the door and he and his brother hopped in. They had to share a seat because Marty's truck didn't have much room. The boys used to ride in the back of the truck but Clara had seen them and forbidden them to do it again.

"How was school guys?" Marty asked as he started up his truck.

"I gotta make a presentation about our family history," Verne said. "Jules is going to help me though."

"Oh yeah I remember having to do that," Marty commented. "My mom sent me to Grandma Sylvia's and she told me about the McFlys for hours. But I bet if you asked Doc he'll make it interesting."

"I hope so," Verne said. They pulled up to the driveway of the farmhouse and the boys hopped out of the truck. Marty got out to and lugged Jules and Verne's forgotten backpacks to the house.

When the boys came inside, their parents were not in the kitchen. Jules and Verne looked around and heard some music coming from the living room. They walked quietly toward the room and peeked inside the doorway.

Their parents were in there using this time to be alone together. The living room radio was tuned into the jazz station and Doc and Clara were swaying to and fro to the slow music. They were pressed tightly together with their arms around each other. Doc was smooching Clara's neck, making her giggle.

Jules and Verne had always been kind of grossed out whenever they saw their parents being romantic. It just wasn't a thing a kid was supposed to see.

Marty walked up behind the boys, wondering what they were doing standing outside the living room. He looked up and saw the rather romantic scene and smiled.

"Doc," the musician said rather loudly. The scientist and his wife looked up and immediately untangled themselves from each other. Doc even turned the radio off.

"When did you three get back?" Doc asked, his cheeks a slight scarlet color.

"Yes we didn't hear you come in," Clara stated. She was fixing her hair back into its bun and everyone could see she had a large red mark on her neck.

"Just a few minutes ago," Jules answered and decided to relieve his parents from their embarrassment. "What's for dinner?"

0 0 0

The Brown family was having a dinner of beef and mushroom stew. Marty was invited to stay for dinner but he declined, saying he had to go home and help his parents clean the garage. Verne took the dinnertime to tell his mother and father about the project.

"So I have to finish it by Sunday and I'm gonna be graded," Verne finished, still chewing on a tender piece of beef.

"This is wonderful," Doc said with a big smile on his face. "Finally! A chance to teach you boys about the Brown lineage!"

Jules and Verne shared a look, wondering what they had got themselves into.

Hill Valley, California

November 8, 1992

6:35 AM

The boys were snoozing lazily in the living room when their father woke them up. Jules and Verne had spent last night like they did every Friday night: playing video games and watching rented movies. It was a tradition and a part of that tradition was that they slept in on Saturday morning.

"What pop?" Verne asked after his father shook him gently. Jules raised his head up too, his hair a wild mess.

"Yes why have you disturbed our sleep pattern?" Jules said and yawned.

The boys looked at their father and immediately noticed something different about his clothing. They knew that their father had an odd taste in clothes but what he was wearing now was really outrageous. Doc was donning green German laderhoozen over a purple tee shirt. His legs were exposed and he had on purple socks that matched his shirt. A green hat with a feather in it was sitting on his head.

"Uhh nice dad but I like your hawiian shirts better," Verne commented. He secretly hoped that his father would not be leaving the house dressed like that.

"Just want to get get in the spirit of teaching you both about your history," Doc said and then headed toward the kitchen. "My family was German you know. Come to the kitchen, I made you two some breakfast."

Jules and Verne just nodded and headed toward the kitchen. Doc had never really made them breakfast before. It was always their mother whom did the cooking and the boys wondered where she was. That is, until they remembered that she had an early morning conference.

On the table, there was a bowl of thick and juicy looking sausages. They were a golden brown color and were steaming hot. Just looking at them made Jules and Verne's mouths water with hunger.

"What are these?" Verne asked as his father sat down at the table with them. He picked up some sausage with a big fork and put it on Verne's plate.

"It's a sausage dish meant for breakfast," Doc said and loaded up Jules plate and his own plate. "Be careful though it is rather spicy."

They all ate their breakfast (which was actually quite delicious) and washed their plates. Doc started to lead his sons upstairs. He pulled down the attic stairs and started climbing up. Verne wondered what his father was up to.

"Dad why are we going to the attic?" Verne asked. He followed his father up the ladder along with Jules.

"Because I have something to show you," Doc said and went over to a pile of boxes. He moved a couple of them aside to reveal a small trunk. The trunk looked alot like a pirate treasure chest. Except that here was no heavy padlock on it and Doc easily popped it open.

Jules and Verne peered inside to see a large leather book sitting there alone. It was thick and filled to the brim with yellowed pages. There were three golden-colored words in scripted on the front of the leather book.

"The Family Album," Doc read and blew some dust off of the book. Verne moved closer to his father to see better.

"Really? How far does it date back father?" Jules asked.

"Many years Jules," Doc said and opened the Family Album. "The Brown family, my biological side, originated from the country of Germany. However, we were not known as the 'Browns' back then. My family's original name was 'Von Braun' and my father, Magnus Von Braun, changed it during the first World War."

Doc turned to the first page and the boys saw a big detailed outline of the entire Von Braun family. It all started with someone named Oliver Von Braun and trickled down to Magnus Von Braun and Sarah Lathrop and then Emmett Lathrop Brown and Clarabelle Clayton. The final names on the outline were Jules Eratosthenes Brown and Verne Newton Brown.

"Wow," Verne said after he finished reading all of the names. Their family sure was big!

"Your great-great-great grandfather was Allan Von Braun," Doc said and flipped through some more pages. "He was a chemist that spent years of his life dedicated to his beakers and test tubes."

A whole page was covered in ancient photos of Allan Von Braun. The photographs had bad quality and it was kind of hard to make out the exact features of Allan. The boys could see one photo that wasn't damaged of Allan working at a lab table. The man was tall and lean and looked like the type who would focus extra hard on his work. His hair was kind of messy and Verne thought he looked like a geek.

"Then your great-great grandparents were more fascinated with the rising popularity of the European circus," Doc explained. "They owned a traveling circus that entertained most of Germany and Russia during the time. Your great-great grandpa was the ring leader and introduced most of the acts. I think one of your long ago cousins was in the trapeze act."

Jules saw a couple of photos with a circus in the back-round. A couple dressed in clothes of that year's fashion were posing in front of the tent. Their great-great grandfather had a long beard and a large top hat. Their great-great grandmother was a chunky woman who had curly hair. There was even a picture of them posing with the freak show.

Verne found it cool that he had a relative that owned a circus. How awesome was that?

"Father when did the Von Brauns move to America?" Jules questioned.

"In the early nineteen hundreds," Doc answered and flipped past a huge chunk of pages. "My grandfather and his family moved to America and settled down in Hill Valley. My father grew up and became a very successful doctor. He worked very hard day and sometimes night and added alot of money to the family fortune. Magnus Von Braun met Sarah Lathrop, my mother and your grandmother, a decade later after his family immigrated."

The next page Doc showed them was chock-full of black and white photos. These were in much better condition than the previous ones. There were some with a child Magnus at the Clock tower and one with him studying at a table by candle light. The boys saw that even as a teenager, Magnus still looked stuffy and strict.

The photos with Magnus as a young man showed him courting a younger Sarah Lathrop. Jules and Verne recognized her immediately and saw that she was even more beautiful as a late teenager. Beside the ones with Magnus and Sarah together there was their wedding photo.

"They wed on May 30, 1919 in a church," Doc said and turned the page. "I was born a year later in 1920."

Jules and Verne saw a few photos of Magnus and Sarah and one with Sarah alone. She was pictured lying on a Victorian couch reading a thick novel. Her belly was very round under the fabric of her dress, like every woman's belly gets with pregnancy. She must have been at her final month when the photo was taken.

On the next page was a large photo of Sarah holding a little baby in her arms. The baby was tiny and had a few wisps of possible blond hair. He was wrapped up in a blanket and Sarah was holding him tightly. She was smiling down at her new son with a great deal of motherly affection that the boys had not seen by their visit in 1931.

Verne looked at his father and saw he was smiling fondly at the photo. The ten-year-old guessed that the photo was probably his father's favorite. It was maybe the only time that Sarah Lathrop had ever showed any physical affection towards her son.

"Now this history you know," Doc said and flipped through the last pages of the album. "I invented a time machine and wound up in 1885 and fell in love with your mother. On December 15 we had a small wedding ceremony and nine months later we were blessed with Jules-"

"Hey what about me?" Verne interrupted.

"I'm getting to that," Doc said and flipped to the penultimate page. "And then a year later we were again blessed with you Verne. I decided to speed up production on the time train and worked on it while you two were just small children. In 1895, we left for the future."

There were several pictures of Doc and Clara together with Clara being pregnant in most of them. Some baby pictures of Jules and then Verne were crammed in there too. There was even one with Doc holding toddler Jules and infant Verne. The time train had its photo with Doc in the conductor's room smiling. He turned to the last page where there was a snapshot of the Brown family and Marty.

"And that is our history," Doc finished. "So far."

"Awesome," Verne said as they climbed back down the attic ladder. They went downstairs and Verne saw the grandfather clock had the time of 10:30 AM. The Family Album must have taken a long time to go through.

"Your mother will tell you the Clayton family history when she gets back," Doc said as the front door opened. Marty entered with his nose in a large physics textbook.

"Hey Doc I can't make heads or tails of th-" The musician stopped when he caught sight of Doc's traditional German outfit.

"Um am I intruding on something?" Marty asked.

"No I was just teaching the boys about their history," Doc explained and looked down at himself. "What do you need help with?"

"A weekend assignment," Marty answered. "I don't really understand the chapter and I was hoping you could break it down for me."

"Sure," Doc said and headed for the hallway. "Come on in the den."

Jules and Verne retreated themselves up to Verne's bedroom. Verne wanted to get cracking on the presentation so he would at least have some weekend left. They decided that Jules would trace the family tree onto a poster board and Verne would write up the paper. Well, half the paper because Verne still hadn't learned anything about the Clayton side. The two worked for quite awhile on the presentation.

"How's the writing portion coming along Verne?" Jules asked.

"I wrote up our family and our way old ancestors," Verne said and them slumped down in his chair. "What happened to dad's grandparents again?"

Jules pulled open the Family Album and flipped through several pages. He came to their great-great grandparents and skipped ahead. But the next two pages of the album were blank yellowed papers. There were no pictures of Jules and Verne's great grandparents.

"Hmm peculiar," Jules said. "There is no photographic evidence of our relatives. Perhaps you could go to the library and search the archives for them."

"Yeah I guess," Verne said, a little annoyed that he had to do more work. He heard the door open downstairs and his mother call out that she was home. Verne rushed down the stairs with his papers in hand to greet his mother.

Clara was wrestling out of her coat and trying to hang it on the full coat rack. Verne went up to her with his school notebook still in his hand.

"HI MOM!" Verne yelled at the top of his lungs and nearly gave his mother a heart attack.

"Verne don't startle me like that," Clara said clutching her chest. She grabbed her purse and put it on the coffee table. The bag was full with something like a binder or portfolio of papers. Clara pulled out a tanish-yellow accordion folder from her bag. She set it down on the table and left to make some tea in the kitchen.

Verne's curiosity was ignited and he picked up the accordian folder. It was sort of heavy like a textbook and he shook it. Something small rattled inside the folder and Verne tried to untie the elastic to see what it was.

There were alot of papers and black and white photos in the accordion folder. Verne, however, was not interested in those at the moment. He wanted to find out what the object was rattling inside. Searching with his fingers, Verne touched a long necklace and pulled it out of the folder.

It was a beautiful gold locket that was very old and felt very cold. The chain itself was long and had that grungy feel old pennies get after awhile. Dangling in the middle of the clasped chain was a big heart with small flowers engraved on the surface of it. On the other side that would touch the skin was the in scripted name "Clayton" in thin Victorian cursive.

Verne thought the locket was kind of girly but wanted to know what was inside. A classmate of his named Shirley had a locket and it opened to reveal photos of her mom and dad. Verne wanted to see what photos were in the locket. Maybe there was a cool coin or a folded up baseball card inside instead.

The ten-year-old was in the middle of trying to pry the gold heart open when his mother came in.

"I'm afraid it's stuck Verne," Clara said with her cup of tea in hand. "I tried to open it but it wouldn't budge. You father might know how to fix it."

Clara took the locket from her youngest son and placed it carefully on the table. She then took the accordion folder and started pulling out all the papers and photos. There was _alot_ of papers there and at least half a dozen snapshots of supposed Clayton ancestors.

"Hey Jules come down here!" Verne yelled up the stairs. "Mom's gonna tell us about her family!"

Jules came down the stairs quickly with a notebook and pen in hand. He apparently wanted to take notes on the Claytons. Jules and Verne sat down on the floor in front of their mother's chair, ready for her recap.

"I'm the only one of my family to have lived in Hill Valley," Clara said as she shuffled through papers. "So there wasn't any record on the Claytons in the library. I had to go on the Internet and print various articles. The photos I found with my old belongings."

Clara held up a crumpled and yellowed photograph of a group of pretentious-looking people. It was a very large photo of about twenty-five people. No one was smiling and that included the children featured.

"This is the family photo of the three generations of the Clayton family," Clara said, pointing to the photograph. "My whole family lived on the other coast in New Jersey for years and years. That is, until my father set out on the Oregon Trail in the 1850s. On that trail he met my mother Martha O'Brien and they married on March 3, 1850."

Verne groaned, his mother had told him and Jules about her parents story a billion times.

"What about the locket?" Verne asked.

"Well this locket was passed down to many Clayton women over generations," Clara said and twiddled the locket between her fingers. "My father's grandmother started was the first to own the locket, I believe. She gave it to my father's mother and my father gave it to me."

"What's in it?" Verne asked.

"I don't remember," Clara said and handed Jules the locket. The twelve-year-old examined it and removed a small screwdriver from his belt loop. He carefully inserted it and jiggled it ever so slightly. The gold heart made a little "clink" and Jules opened it.

Verne took the locket out of his brother's hands and looked at it hard.

Both halves of the heart were empty and there was no coin or folded up baseball card inside.

"Bummer," Verne said and put the locket back down on the table. "There's nothing inside."

Footsteps were heard coming down the stairs and Marty and Doc appeared in the living room. Marty had his his textbook which now had several papers of notes stuck in it. Doc saw the papers and other memorabilia of the Clayton past on the coffee table.

"Clara I see you educated our sons about the Clayton past," Doc said, walking over to the couch.

"Yes and I see you found the place I hid that outfit in," Clara said.

"So Verne how's the family history presentation going?" Marty asked.

"It's going good," Verne said and headed for the stairs. "Now I can finish the other half of the report and the rest is easy. Come on Jules."

Hill Valley, California

November 10, 1992

7:03 PM

Miss Stine's classroom of the Hill Valley Elementary school was filled with seat of parents and other family members. Other fifth graders had their poster boards on walls and on easels in the front of the room. Everyone had handed in their reports and had to do a small oral report before other parents and children could check out their work. The fifth grade class of the school was presenting their family history presentations tonight and Verne Brown were next.

"Hey Jen can you pass the skittles?" Marty asked.

"Marty you should have gone to the vending machine when the other kids were up," Jennifer said but handed the package of candy to her boyfriend anyway.

Verne walked onto the stage with two large poster boards in his arms. He set them up on the easels provided and faced the classroom of parents.

"My family dates back hundreds of years," Verne said and gestured to the posters. One had the big family tree outline Jules had copied and the other had a collage of photos Verne had made copies of. "My dad's family came from Germany and my mom's family was from New England. If I do say so myself, we do have a pretty cool back-round so check it out. A families' history can be alot more interesting than you think."

END


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